Guest Yostercoaster Posted July 5, 2003 Posted July 5, 2003 hey all, new to the site...2nd year college student here, declared bio major, and planning a life of serious research in genetics. Problem: will I get tired/bored of working in a lab all day? I love learning about bio, but not sure how I feel about spending my life in a sterile fluorescent-lit, room surrounded by glass beakers and test tubes. Does it ever get depressing? ~sincerely concerned
daisy Posted July 5, 2003 Posted July 5, 2003 Yes you get depressed occasionally...but that's true of all jobs. And you get the blues when stuff doesn't work...but if you enjoy problem solving and trouble shooting that's OK. There is no job on this planet that doesn't have it's down side and unless you work outdoors you will be surrounded by glass, walls etc. anyway....maybe just replace the test-tubes with computers or whatever else. I am a research scientist and I love bench science but all jobs have their down-side.
Glider Posted July 6, 2003 Posted July 6, 2003 Very true. All jobs have a downside. However, boredom isn't a function of where you work, it's a function of what you do. If you are doing what you really want to do, it won't matter too much where you do it.
Guest Yostercoaster Posted July 6, 2003 Posted July 6, 2003 appreciate the input I'll have to ponder this a bit more...
KHinfcube22 Posted July 6, 2003 Posted July 6, 2003 Its not really where you work that would matter wether you get bored or not. You get used to it over time. Its what you are doing. If you working on something that might change the coruse of human history, and you almost got it solved, then you wouldn't even notice where youare working. You wouldn't care. And look at the bright side of working in a lab. Everthings sterile...
Sayonara Posted July 6, 2003 Posted July 6, 2003 Originally posted by KHinfcube22 Its not really where you work that would matter wether you get bored or not. You get used to it over time. Its what you are doing. If you working on something that might change the coruse of human history, and you almost got it solved, then you wouldn't even notice where youare working. You wouldn't care. Maybe you should try working somewhere for a significant period of time before you try giving people advice on the same. Just a thought.
KHinfcube22 Posted July 6, 2003 Posted July 6, 2003 Hey, I've been working in my bedroom on a computer for years. Plus I'm aquainted with psicology, I know what I'm talking about.
Sayonara Posted July 6, 2003 Posted July 6, 2003 Originally posted by KHinfcube22 Hey, I've been working in my bedroom on a computer for years. Plus I'm aquainted with psicology, I know what I'm talking about. Oh. My. God.
KHinfcube22 Posted July 6, 2003 Posted July 6, 2003 Actually, you typed that last post wrong. It should be Oh...My...GOD... You see, placing three . give the reader a short pause in which the see that you are either hesitent, or amazed, giving it a sarcastict appaearnce. The way you did makes it look like three diffrent statements. Instead of making your post look like sarcasm, it looks like gibberish.
Sayonara Posted July 6, 2003 Posted July 6, 2003 Originally posted by KHinfcube22 Actually, you typed that last post wrong. It should be Oh...My...GOD... You see, placing three . give the reader a short pause in which the see that you are either hesitent, or amazed, giving it a sarcastict appaearnce. The way you did makes it look like three diffrent statements. Instead of making your post look like sarcasm, it looks like gibberish. Better than looking retarded by squeezing as many grammatical, compositional, syntax, spelling and factual errors as possible into every single post.
KHinfcube22 Posted July 6, 2003 Posted July 6, 2003 Originally posted by Sayonara³ Better than looking retarded by squeezing as many grammatical, compositional, syntax, spelling and factual errors as possible into every single post. I only found seven mistakes in my last post. I am finding no mistakes in this one. But when I type fast, I tend to spell words wrong, and make a few grammicle errors,(if I spelled grammicle wrong, forgive me, but I didn't look it p to spell check it.) I thank you for your input though.
Glider Posted July 7, 2003 Posted July 7, 2003 Originally posted by KHinfcube22 Actually, you typed that last post wrong. It should be Oh...My...GOD... You see, placing three . give the reader a short pause in which the see that you are either hesitent, or amazed, giving it a sarcastict appaearnce. The way you did makes it look like three diffrent statements. Instead of making your post look like sarcasm, it looks like gibberish. I think the use of single periods, whilst perhaps not indicating sarcasm, suggests despair quite effectively. Quite understandable under the circumstances. Originally posted by KHinfcube22Plus I'm aquainted with psicology, I know what I'm talking about. Oh. My. God.
Skye Posted July 8, 2003 Posted July 8, 2003 Yostercoaster- Email or call some researchers and ask, politely, if you can do some voluntary work to find out if it's for you.
daisy Posted July 8, 2003 Posted July 8, 2003 Skye makes an excellent suggestion - many principle investigators will take on summer students who want to experience real lab work. Some of them MAY even have spare funds to pay you (but not necessarily). If you're serious about science it's worth doing and you will find out the difference between undergrad practical labs and real science. And believe me, there's a huge difference.
Guest The Barbarian Posted July 25, 2003 Posted July 25, 2003 Not all geneticists spend all their time in labs. Some do field work. Some do population sampling, and travel widely, meeting all sorts of people. It's not quite the ivory tower you might think it is.
NSX Posted July 26, 2003 Posted July 26, 2003 Originally posted by daisy Skye makes an excellent suggestion - many principle investigators will take on summer students who want to experience real lab work. Some of them MAY even have spare funds to pay you (but not necessarily). If you're serious about science it's worth doing and you will find out the difference between undergrad practical labs and real science. And believe me, there's a huge difference. Do they prefer graduate students though?
greg1917 Posted July 26, 2003 Posted July 26, 2003 Thats what Im doing right now. Im in Norwich working at the University of East Anglia in the chemistry department working on carbohydrate research. Im getting paid for the pleasure plus I get travel expenses so the flight down from Glasgow and the train home cost nothing! Lots of Uni's take on summer project students. One girl is a 3rd year biology student doing biochemistry, enzyme reaction kinetics etc. Most are post grad students doing phd's and there are a few post docs as well. Im going to Uni proper in september so this will hopefully be a useful contact to have for a work placement in the future. Plus I get to play around with stuff I wont see till probably 3rd year of my degree. I have no idea how its usually organised. My chemistry teacher did her doctorate with the guy im currently working for so she just emailed him and I didnt ask questions. Asking old teachers if they have any contacts would probably be the easiest way to try and arrange something similar. Most schools do a work experience program so you could always try and get lab work that way, although it probably wouldnt be payed.
daisy Posted July 26, 2003 Posted July 26, 2003 Good for you Greg....puts you ahead of the game in more ways than one. To see someone using their initiative like that is brilliant...and will do you no harm when it comes to making decisions about whether you want a lab based job or not. I must say I'd like to see more of that type of initiative from a school-leaver.
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now